Shepherdess
by Dagas Isa
Summary: After so many years raising Chocobos, Calli comes down with a case of wanderlust. Implied CalliClasko and CalliBrother.


**Shepherdess**

Do chocobos fly?

Calli still asks that question every once in a while, between the grooming, feeding and exercising of her birds. Surely, they're very happy on the ground, running around playing their games, but she wonders, if something inside them longs for a flight they could never have. In the early mornings, she's extra quiet, perhaps to catch one of her charges flapping their wings, calling out to the rising sun.

If one does, it's probably Sol, the patriarch of the birds, and the only one who's ever known what it's like to live in the clouds. He's not so flighty as he was when the High Summoner and the Gullwings caught him, but she swears that his watery eyes look up and he scratches the dirt trying to get back up to that other world.

Whenever she tells Clasko that, on his rare visits to her branch of the business, he laughs at her. Chocobos just want to run, he explains to her, Sol probably hated being on the airship since he'd spent the whole time confined.

He's probably right, and it's only her romantic imagination playing tricks. And the only chocobo who wants to fly is her.

Calli's spent so much time with the chocobos, she practically sees herself as one of the flock. Solid ground beneath feet, warm midday sun against skin, she relishes them both. She grooms and is groomed. She eats greens more often then she cares to count. Most of all, she hates confinement. Four nights out of five, she's on the roof, sleeping beneath the stars, because the house she lived in once became a cage.

Yet, she wants to go back.

It's been years, many years, since her sojourn on the Celsius. Though she witnessed much of their adventures, the cabin held her from moving when she felt restless. And having a childish longing for someone unattainable compounded the feeling. Especially those times he sat so close to her and nursed a drink.

The thick accent slurred by a couple cups of brew had been difficult to translate, but she'd ultimately deciphered most of it. His father. His sister. His friends. His airship. Yuna. For someone who moved so exuberantly, his worries expanded to fill all the open space.

Her only regret on that airship is not saying anything during those times. Watching while pretending to groom and entertain her bird, but never coming up and saying anything. Even if all she could murmur were the platitudes her mother taught her in the time before the calm. Everything happens for a reason. Everything will work out.

For her it has.

Calli lives simply, but she's far from poor these days. Her birds live far and wide across Spira. They race in Luca and Bevelle. The Calm Lands rent her birds out to tourists who long to try their hands at old-fashioned transport. Some have even gone as far out as Bikanel, aiding in the machina salvage operation. People know her chocobos, and her work, even if they don't ever think about the person Calli is.

Most of the time, business-Calli or choco-Calli keeps her content on her plot of the Mi'ihen grassland, but when the buzz of business quiets and the chocobos are abed, Calli lies on the roof, arms outstretched, and wonders what it would be like to fly again, to feel the wind on her face and chase the blue flares of engines.

Bit by bit, she plans another life. Sometimes, she thinks of practical matters, gil, chocobo sales, security. Other times, she becomes wistful, imagining the people she'll see again and the adventures they have in the meantime.

She doesn't know what makes the decision for her to leave, to call for Clasko on the commsphere the next morning. Of course he'll take care of her chocobos. His ranch has expanded since she's last seen it, and there's always room for a new group of friends. Her birds have all met him, except for the newly hatched chicks, Bobby and Corwen. And they will surely like Spira's Chocobo Guru.

Calli doesn't worry now, except perhaps if she expresses her discontent. He's heard her musings before she learned to keep them inside. His suggestions were always the same. Come to the Calm Lands. Spend a few days together, as friends. Let him court her. Right now, she feels like something more.

Maybe she'll see Zanarkand. Yuna and Rikku had laughed at the monkeys' escapades, and even Paine had given a little smirk of amusement. Or perhaps she'll make a pilgrimage to everywhere in Spira that her chocobos worked. Just for a little check up. And she could maybe get information about airships from the Al Bhed in Sanubia. They must know how to build them now.

The possibilities fill her with mirth, and laughter spills from her mouth. Her birds crowd around her, giving kwehs of amusement, and they all laugh together. Calli wonders if they understand the source of her amusement, or if they simply like to be merry.

She'll strike out tomorrow, with her chocobos in tow. They'll enjoy the journey in open land, and Sol will help keep order among the herd. They will be a family for one last journey.

Calli rushes inside to prepare.


End file.
